Update on my winter bike

[Preston Crawford]

So as many of you remember from my last post, I got excellent assistance
from Speedzone here in Portland, in helping me get fit to a Volpe, as
opposed to the Bianchi Castro Valley. I've ridden it for a couple days and
so far, so good. I haven't taken it out for any really long rides yet, but
so far it's very comfortable and it seems like it's the right size and a
good fit. I think I've finally found my white whale. Just need to get a
rack on it now. I'm very happy, though. Especially knowing that out of the
box it has stronger wheels than I'm used to having on bikes in the past,
so I not only may have my mud problem under control, but I found a great
shop with a helpful owner and a great bunch of guys *AND* I have 36 spoke
wheels with good hubs, so I shouldn't have to do the inevitable $200 wheel
purchase that I've had to do with my last 2 road bikes. I'm happy. Wish
I'd discovered Bianchi's lineup sooner.

Also, in terms of sizing, a couple questioned the size 55 the owner put me
on. I got ahold of my old fitting and according to the sheet my inseam is
80.5cm. So going by the standard I've seen out there (inseam * .67) I get
a size 54cm. So it looks like indeed I'm much closer to a 55 than a 58.
Good news.

Preston

 

[Arthur Harris]

"Preston Crawford" wrote:
> I'm very happy, though. Especially knowing that out of the
> box it has stronger wheels than I'm used to having on bikes in the past,
> so I not only may have my mud problem under control, but I found a great
> shop with a helpful owner and a great bunch of guys *AND* I have 36 spoke
> wheels with good hubs, so I shouldn't have to do the inevitable $200 wheel
> purchase that I've had to do with my last 2 road bikes.

It may be worth having the spoke tension checked if these are machine built
wheels. Proper tension and stress relieving are the keys to a durable wheel.

> Also, in terms of sizing, a couple questioned the size 55 the owner put me
> on. I got ahold of my old fitting and according to the sheet my inseam is
> 80.5cm. So going by the standard I've seen out there (inseam * .67) I get
> a size 54cm. So it looks like indeed I'm much closer to a 55 than a 58.

80.5cm is 31.7 inches. That's a very short inseam for a 6'1" person, which
means your torso much be extra long. As far as relating "frame size" to
inseam, there are a couple of problems. For one thing, maufacturers have at
least three ways of specifying seat tube length. And for another, seat tube
length isn't the most important criteria for bike fit.

The main thing is that you feel comfortable on the bike, and it sounds like
you are. Good luck with the new bike.

Art Harris

 

[Preston Crawford]

On 2004-12-30, Arthur Harris <[email protected]> wrote:
>> wheels with good hubs, so I shouldn't have to do the inevitable $200 wheel
>> purchase that I've had to do with my last 2 road bikes.
>
> It may be worth having the spoke tension checked if these are machine built
> wheels. Proper tension and stress relieving are the keys to a durable wheel.

Oh, totally. They said to bring it in after a few rides to have the
tension checked. And they do the standard 500 miles or a month tune-up, so
I'll be sure to get that checked.

>> Also, in terms of sizing, a couple questioned the size 55 the owner put me
>> on. I got ahold of my old fitting and according to the sheet my inseam is
>> 80.5cm. So going by the standard I've seen out there (inseam * .67) I get
>> a size 54cm. So it looks like indeed I'm much closer to a 55 than a 58.
>
> 80.5cm is 31.7 inches. That's a very short inseam for a 6'1" person, which
> means your torso much be extra long. As far as relating "frame size" to

It's pretty long, definitely. Even though I'm much skinnier than I used
to be, I still have to buy 2xT or 3x shirts so they can actually be
tucked in. Plus I have nearly a size 8 melon.

> inseam, there are a couple of problems. For one thing, maufacturers have at
> least three ways of specifying seat tube length. And for another, seat tube
> length isn't the most important criteria for bike fit.

Of course not.

> The main thing is that you feel comfortable on the bike, and it sounds like
> you are. Good luck with the new bike.

Thanks.

Preston